Punitive Damages Verdict Boosts Chinese Drywall Award to $7.125 Million

MIAMI — A Florida jury on Friday added $6 million in punitive damages to a $1.125 million verdict awarded recently to a Miami couple that was forced out of their home because of allegedly toxic Chinese drywall.

Sources told HarrisMartin Publishing that the Miami-Dade County Circuit Court jury returned the punitive damages verdict Nov. 22, ordering Chinese manufacturer Knauf Plasterboard (Tianjin) Co. (KPT) and its German affiliate Knauf Gips to pay $1 million and $5 million, respectively.

The award follows a Nov. 8 compensatory damages award of $1.125 million, which jurors rendered after finding several defendants, including KPT and Knauf …